Comments

Well, consider what was there before. Looked a lot like a 1950's bomb shelter left over from the cold war.

The new building is mad mod, bright yellow, above ground, and the first LEED's rated children's museum in the country. It will feature geo thermal heating and cooling, solar panels and lots of other cool green stuff, like CO2, occupancy and light sensors. Read more at:

Capt Planet, you're right that the old one looked like a bomb shelter but the yellow tub thing just seems out of character with the older neighborhood buildings.

I'm more of a limestone guy, not a MAD-MODern guy.

Neighborhood types are always complaining (not just on brooklynaian)about private developers building monsterours buildings that are out of character with the neighborhood. But when the government sponsors the buildings, its OK?

However, I glad to hear that it incorporates LEED systems.

I guess another plus is that the children will be able to see the YELLOW from the subway stations

An architect that lives in the neighborhood said that the architect that designed it crafted it as a bird in flight (taking flight??) over the building. Ever since I've heard that I've been trying to identify the bird, but the best I can come up with is it looks like Big Bird got run over on Brooklyn Avenue.

Yes, I agree the inside is more important than the outside, and that children will find it entertaining and exciting.

Just don't let them see Big Bird run over.

Off the chain=fabulous!!

And fast forward to me now being the parent of a toddler...I can attest that the parents of the thousands of toddlers in Brooklyn couldn't care less about the outward aesthetic of the museum. That yearly membership fee is SO affordable...and just such an amazing place for kids.

I always thought it was supposed to be some weird Big Bird/Noah's Ark mashup. Also, looking back on the comments, it's amazing how much things have changed in that area as well. The abandoned buildings and trash strewn everywhere is actually starting to improve in that area. I lived on Kingston between St. Mark's and Bergen from 2007 through 2011 and looked forward to that area improving. At that point in time things were decent up until you hit Bergen and then the next block looked like a warzone. Abandoned buildings, filthy, trash strewn sidewalks--it felt like you were suddenly transported back into the 1970s-90s. Now restaurants are moving in, buildings are being bought up and redeveloped, and even the Kingston Lounge might be resurrected, which would be pretty cool.

It's still butt-ugly, as is that horror perpetrated upon the facade of the once beautiful Brooklyn Museum ... at a cost of approximately $63 million.

That is only your opinion. As for the Brooklyn Museum, the new facade has opened up the museum to the public and made it much more inviting. It draws people in. What was once a formal, sterile building that looked forbidding is now playful. You can see what is going on in the ground floor entry way and people perform there. You could never tell if anything was going on in that building before. I bet attendance has gone way up. And I love that fabulous fountain. Worth every penny.!

@Crownheightster, I've heard that the building is moving quickly towards completion. I peeped out the sheetrock and electrical installers a while ago. Heard through the grapevine the developer is already talking to interested parties about the units.

Tsarina, that may be your opinion --- I'm sorry that you have such poor taste.

As to the museum being much more inviting, the Met Museum in Manhattan is certainly not more inviting looking than the Brooklyn Museum was before this monstrous addition. I don't think the Met is hurting for visitors. In any case, how many dollars have you contributed to the Brooklyn Museum?

Unfortunately for the B.M.'s finances, most of their big attendance is only on their free first Mondays.

Those fountains that you love so much, which I agree are lovely, didn't cost $63 million and could have been built without the huge waste of money.

Tsarina, that may be your opinion --- I'm sorry that you have such poor taste.

Again that is a matter of opinion. It is not fact only your opinion. I have an opinion about your negative comments and personal attacks, but I don't really need to share them. Nobody really cares. I feel sorry for you just the same.

You are correct about the BM hosting such events and bringing in some much-needed money ... but is that really the purpose of having a museum? If this is really its purpose, they should have simply sold off the exhibits and turned the entire building into a giant catering hall, à la Leonard's of Great Neck.

The BM simply does not get much traffic unless it is on a free-admission day.

As for you, Tsarina, you seem to delight in answering and opposing any post I make, even one which agrees with something you've said. By the way, you have somehow managed to post as MY comment something which I did not say and which is clearly your own opinion. Please don't play the "poor little injured" girl around here so you are simply a nasty individual. Funny that you say that you don't really need to express your opinion and then proceed to do exactly that. Then again, why expect intelligence from someone whose picture demonstrates that she thinks she looks like a dog.

Go back to Podunk, from whence you came. You'll be far happier there and at least you'll be among your intellectual equals.